Fallingstar's Past
by Vingefang
Summary: Even Fallingstar, the great leader of FlameClan, has a past. Doesn't every cat?


It was almost full night. A large orange tabby stepped out of his den, his body shaking in a stretch. Slowly he jumped on top of Half-tree and gave his chest fur a couple of even strokes. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below Half-tree for a Clan meeting," his yowl filled the silent clearing.

Slowly, many cats lingered into the darkness, coming out of shaded caves on the side of walls. One young cat, however, gleamed with determination. Fallingpaw wriggled to the front of the crowd, where his mother puffed up his fur. "You can't become a warrior simply looking like that, can you?" Autumnberry purred, giving him one last push forward until he stood below Half-tree.

Dawnstar sat down, looking out until he was positive his Clan was finished chattering.

"I, Dawnstar, leader of FlameClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in their turn." His eyes turned down on the young apprentice. "Fallingpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Fallingpaw shot up, his body quivering with excitement. "I do!"

The tabby nodded. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Fallingpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Fallingleaf. StarClan honors your speed and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of FlameClan."

Fallingleaf stepped up on Half-tree and bowed his head, licking Dawnstar's shoulder as the leader rested his muzzle on his head. He turned away and slowly stepped down, listening to his Clan chant his new name.

"You will sit vigil in silence until dawn breaks," he added, stepping down from Half-tree and into his den.

Slowly the Clan filed away. Fallingleaf sighed in satisfaction, catching his former mentor's gaze, who smiled and nodded back. Carefully he padded out to FlameClan's entrance, ready to sit vigil for the night.

A yowl filled the heavy air as a cat landed on Fallingleaf. Without realization he was pinned to the ground, watching in horror as MistClan cats crowded the camp.

"Intruders!" He yowled and scraped his back legs against his opponent's stomach, hearing them scream in pain and back off.

Quick on his feet, the new warrior looked around, ready to spring at anyone who wasn't his Clanmate.

Slowly he turned around to see Nightpaw, an MistClan she-cat who Fallingleaf had always shared tongues with at Gatherings. He flinched, how could he attack a friend? Especially one he had questioned love to?

Nightpaw slashed out at Fallingleaf, slicing into his cheeck. He could feel red liquid trickle down to his chin and drop, he could taste some of it's thick scarlet lullaby stream into his mouth. With one yowl, the warrior lunged at Nightpaw, knocking her to the ground.

"How could you?!" He shreaked, slashing out and barely missing as she moved out of the way, terrified and regretful. Everything was happening so fast.

Fallingleaf could see his Clanmates losing in the corner of his eyes. The nursery was full of shreiking terror, the apprentice den completely empty, and then, Dawnstar.

He paced away from Nightpaw, she was pushed to the furthest corner of his mind. He watched as Dawnstar was knocked to the ground, Hawkstar's teeth sinking into his neck.

And there, he lost his last life. Fallingleaf wasn't sure how to react. The rest of his Clan was deep into a massacre, trying to fight off the invaders. Slowly he stepped forward, Hawkstar licked his lips and spit Dawnstar's blood on the floor.

MistClan's leader smirked as his gaze caught ahold of Fallingleaf. His steps were heavy and his heart lacked emotion, knocking any opposing warrior in his way. If there was anything to say about Hawkstar, every cat in the forest knew he didn't value a warrior's life.

Fallingleaf yowled and charged, hurtling into the leader. Hawkstar laughed mockingly at the new warrior as his paw smacked into his side, his claws seeping into Fallingleaf's flank.

The warrior shreiked in pain, falling to the ground to see Hawkstar hovering over him. Limply he stood up, breathing heavily until his pain become numb and sour.

Quickly he slashed at the leader, who was surprised damage was taken and tumbled back. Fallingleaf jumped forward and clawed at Hawkstar, making a death blow to the back of his neck. It was quick and silent.

Fallingleaf wasn't sure if StarClan thought him dishonorable as the leader stopped moving. Quickly he moved out of the way, afraid of Hawkstar's surging anger when he realized he had lost one of many lives in battle.

His quick and shaking paws lead him tumbling into the nursery to see a mess of blood. Dead bodies littered the ground, the fight had moved out into the open. Carefully Fallingleaf surveyed around, and a tiny mewling noise caught his attention.

Quickly he ran further into the nusery to see Icekit huddling next to Silentkit, their small bodies dense against Blossomflower's cold and dead one. Their fur was matted with red, no wonder MistClan warriors must have took them as dead. Glancing back once at the opening, Fallingleaf pushed them further back into the nursery. Fear surged through is pelt, but he knew he couldn't sit there and shiver about it. He was a new warrior!

"Stay there and shut up," he ordered, surprised that Icekit's whimpering suddenly stopped.

Slowly and carefully, Fallingleaf pushed against the back wall until he found a small opening. As he began to remember Blossomflower complaining about it earlier that day, his claws tore at it and made it large enough to squeeze his body through. "Over here," he ordered and flicked his tail. Quickly, Icekit and Silentkit scrabbled to their feet and came over to Fallingleaf, who slowly pushed them out of the camp.

As Fallingleaf exited, he patched up the hole as best as he could to keep from revealing their escape from the horrendous murder.

With FlameClan's newest warrior in front, he lead the kits further and further away from the Clan. Every now and then he looked back to keep in pace, their small stubby legs could only carry them so far.

They had kept walking until Fallingleaf was sure he couldn't hear the screeching of battle, and way out of FlameClan territory into unknown land. The forest here was dense, but smelled greatly of mountain wind. Carefully sniffing an old earth to make sure it was abandoned, Fallingleaf nudged the kits in their.

"Please stay here, I'll be back soon," he promissed, staring at their worried eyes as they huddled together.

Fallingleaf shot back into the forest, heading for his Clan. He breathed in deep and slow, worried to see what he would find.


End file.
